


Rise in Perfect Light

by AngelofShadows



Series: To Love and Be Loved [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is hostile, BOM!Keith, Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Emotional Keith, Established Relationship, Galra Keith (Voltron), Homesickness, Keith knows stuff about things, Keith still wants to go home dammit, Mood Swings, Multi, Pack Dynamics, Protective Keith (Voltron), Shenanigans, Shiro (Voltron) is a Good Boyfriend, again sorta, pack bonds, she gets better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-12 17:56:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15345339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelofShadows/pseuds/AngelofShadows
Summary: Shiro is gone, captured by the Empire and being tortured thousands of light-years away from Keith. He is now more determined than ever to get off Earth and get back to the stars. Back to his family. Back to his mate. Before he can do that however, his mate finds him instead. Now, he is back in the stars, living his childhood dream of being a Paladin of Voltron. But he’s still a long way from home and has more than one obstacle between him and his fathers. He’s going to have to go through a lot in order to make his way back to his family, but at least he has his pack along for the ride.Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.– Sarah Williams, The Old Astronomer





	1. The Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again, guys! We're back! Welcome to Canon! Now shit gets interesting. It’s past time for Keith to get back up into the stars, don’t you all agree?

Keith has grown quite fond of the desert in the year he’s spent out here. It’s quiet, which can be both a blessing and a curse, but most of the time, Keith appreciates it.

He’s made sure to check in with the Shiroganes, Katie, and Hunk a few times a month since he left the Garrison for the desert, looking for the source of the noise. They keep asking him to come back to society – Mio and Miki beg him repeatedly to come stay in the Shirogane household until he “finds a job” which of course he has no intention of doing. Sachiko – bless her – makes sure he eats and insists he takes leftovers home after every visit. He knows they’re all worried about him, but he can’t stop.

Katie understands. She’s doing her own investigating, hacking into Garrison computers to find any information she can. He’s considered telling her about everything, but he runs into the same problem as with the Shiroganes: knowing how much they’re suffering would only make her feel worse. The last time he’d seen her, she’d told him she’d been caught again and was going to have to try something more “drastic” and that she’d be out of contact for a while.

That had been almost a month ago. He’s gotten messages from her sporadically but only brief ones like “hi I’m still alive don’t worry”. He wants to ask, to make sure she’s not doing anything too dangerous, but he trusts her to know her own strength. Besides, he has his own mission out here: he needs to find the ship and find Shiro.

Shiro, who’s already been in the hands of the empire for a year. Keith… tries not to think about that. Or the fact that he’s been away from his own home for three years now. Anything could have happened to his fathers. Anything could have happened to Shiro and the Holts.

Keith doesn’t sleep very well anymore.

He does finally manage to find the source of the purring, after months of searching. He even knows what it is.

A _Voltron Lion_.

It’s the only explanation. Keith has never felt quintessence like this before, and according to his dad, the Voltron Lions have the highest level of quintessence of any non-organic thing in existence. If Keith can find the lion, he can get off Earth. He can save his mate. He can go home.

The only problem is, he can’t figure out a way to get to the lion, and it’s driving him insane. He’s been trying for two months now, but every cave he looks in ends in a dead end. He can feel the lion, calling, but he can’t figure out a way to get _deeper_ into the rock formation it’s trapped under. He’s starting to get angry. And very, very scared.

He does finally figure out the date for the “arrival” the carvings in the caves spoke of, though.

Whatever it is, it’s happening soon. Keith hopes that whatever is arriving, he can handle it. He hopes it will _help_.

~*~

The day the carvings were talking about comes hazy and hot, like most days in the desert. Keith keeps watch all day for anything out of the ordinary, but doesn’t see anything, until a few hours after sunset.

He’s sitting up on the roof, watching the sky, when he sees it. A glimmer, like a shooting star, but much faster. Keith stands on the roof and squints at it, trying to get a better look. As it grows closer, more defined, Keith can make out the shape. It’s rounded, made of metal. It’s a ship, and…

His eyes widen. He knows _exactly_ what that is. That’s a Galra escape pod. He knows the design intimately, having dismantled one’s circuitry when he was little. He doesn’t think before jumping down from the roof and onto the hoverbike, kicking off towards the place where the pod had made contact a moment or two before.

This _had_ to be it; the thing the cave writing was talking about. But a Galra escape pod? Where did it come from? Who was in it? Keith grits his teeth and pushes the bike faster.

He finds the crash site, but the damn _Garrison_ has already moved in and set up a temporary shelter around the crash. Keith growls low in his throat, but then closes his eyes, breathing slowly. Patience yields focus.

He slips back onto the bike and heads a few miles out from the crash, planting smoke bombs in a neat line before arming them and speeding back. They explode when he’s halfway back to the crash. Immediately he sees Garrison forces moving towards the explosions and smirks to himself. He parks the bike behind a boulder and reaches into his pocket to tie a handkerchief around his nose and mouth. It wouldn’t do if anyone inside recognized him.

With a quick glance around, Keith sees that literally no one is left at the entrance. He rolls his eyes. How these people ever thought they’d be able to handle an actual alien crisis is beyond him.

He darts towards the entrance and ducks inside, perking up as he hears voices a few rooms down. Something about… a robotic arm?

The door hisses open and three med-techs are standing around a body on a gurney, and whoever it is is wearing the clothes of a Galra prisoner.

The med-techs notice him and shout, and Keith lowers into a fighting stance, knocking them all out easily. None of them were fighters. He jumps over the body of the third one before it finishes hitting the floor and stands next to the gurney, pulling down his handkerchief as he does.

And that’s when he smells it. A scent so precious to him, he still _dreams_ about it.

Keith stares at the prone figure for a moment before very, very slowly reaching out and tilting the man’s face towards him.

“Shiro?” He breathes. Shiro. Here.

He found him.

He looks pretty bad, but that doesn’t really surprise Keith. Being a prisoner of the empire for a year is bound to do that. There’s a scar across the bridge of his nose – Keith doubts that’s the only one – and the front patch of his hair is now bone-white. Probably from stress. That’s what turned Kolivan’s white.

And then Keith sees the arm that the med-techs had been talking about, and he hisses. “Gods _dammit_.” He growls quietly, but shakes himself and pulls out his Marmora dagger, cutting through the straps holding Shiro down and pulling the older man up, wrapping his flesh arm over his shoulders. Shiro is a lot bulkier than he used to be, but Keith can still carry him.

Then the door hisses open again and Keith’s head snaps up.

“Nope! Nononono, no you don’t, I’m saving Shiro.”

It’s a teenager, like him. He looks… vaguely familiar? Keith puzzles over that for all of two seconds before the guy attempts to take Shiro’s other arm, and Keith growls low in his throat.

The guy yelps and jumps back half a step.

“Keith!”

Keith glances up at the door where two other teenagers are. Ones he knows.

“Hunk.” He says, addressing the engineer back. “And…”

He looks at Katie – wow her hair is short, and… are those Matt’s glasses? She looks just like him, it’s scary – and opens his mouth to greet her too when she makes a violent slashing motion over her throat.

“…person I have never met before?” He says slowly, and she gives him a thumbs up.

While he was distracted, the third, unknown guy has slipped Shiro’s other arm around his shoulders. Keith growls again. “And who are you?”

“Who am I? Uh, the name’s _Lance_.” The guy scoffs, as though it should be obvious. Keith raises an eyebrow. “We were in the same class at the Garrison?” the guy adds when Keith doesn’t respond.

Keith doubts that, but then again, the first years last year had usually assumed Keith was in their year. “Really, are you an… engineer?” Maybe he’d seen him with Hunk? That sounds right.

“No! I’m a pilot! We were like rivals, you know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck.”

Rivals… oh. “Oh wait, I remember you. You’re a cargo pilot.”  This is Hunk’s weird, jealous friend who liked putting on bravado.

“Yeah well, not anymore. I’m fighter class now thanks to you washing out.” The guy – Lance – says smugly, as though it’s meant to hurt. As though Keith ever actually _wanted_ to be in that prison they called the Galaxy Garrison.

“Well, congratulations.” He mutters, and starts to walk towards the door.

They make it out to the hoverbike and Keith gets Hunk to help him lift Shiro, then Katie says they have company and then everyone’s piling onto the hoverbike which is probably not the best idea, but he’ll have to make it work.

He kicks the bike into high gear and – somehow – manages to outrun the Garrison. It helps that over the past year, he’s memorized the area. And having Hunk to majorly shift their momentum helps too.

No one is happy when he goes over the cliff. The two guys are screaming, and Katie leans forwards. “Keith…” She says, frightened, and Lance is saying something about killing them.

“Shut up and trust me,” he grits out, the latter part aimed mostly at Katie.

He slows their descent and they land with only minor bumps, and Keith speeds towards the shack, grateful that no one is following them anymore.

“Shiro?” He asks, and Katie places a hand on his back.

“He’s okay. Still unconscious.”

Keith grunts in acknowledgement, and the rest of the way to the shack is filled with silence.

Keith has Hunk help him move Shiro inside and onto the bed.

“You can stay.” He tells the three in his shack. Mostly to the two that are _his_ but he supposes it would be pretty shitty of him to make Lance sleep outside. “There are sleeping bags in the corner over there and K- you, little person, can take the couch.”

Katie raises an eyebrow and mouths “little person?” at him, shaking her head in amusement.

“His name’s Pidge.” Hunks supplies, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at Katie.

The Pidge part he understands. That was Matt’s nickname for her but… he looks at her with a raised eyebrow of his own and mouths “he?”

She shakes her head, and he drops it for now. He watches the three of them get settled and then sits on the bed with Shiro, curling up into his side. He stays awake for a long time after the other three have fallen asleep and just… looks at him. He looks so much older with the hair and the scar, and Keith doesn’t doubt he has a thousand more scars under his clothes. And his arm… Keith growls. If he ever finds out who took Shiro’s arm, he’ll tear _all_ of theirs off.

He quiets himself when Shiro shifts, and relaxes against him as he settles. It doesn’t matter right this moment. All that matters right now is that Shiro came back. He has his mate back, and – relatively – safe. For now, that’s all that matters.

Keith sleeps.

~*~

He is jostled awake when Shiro bolts upright in the bed, gasping. It’s very early morning. Light is just now peeking over the horizon.

“Shiro.” He whispers, and the man jerks, turning to look at Keith.

“Keith?” He rasps, and gods, Keith has never heard Shiro sound so small.

“Hey,” Keith murmurs, touching his mate’s cheek gently. “You’re okay now. You’re safe. They can’t touch you here.”

Shiro reaches out slowly and tangles his fingers in Keith’s hair. “This is real.” His voice catches on the last word. “You’re real.”

Keith leans forwards, pressing their foreheads together, grounding Shiro. “I am. And you’re back on Earth. You’re safe with me. The empire doesn’t have you anymore. They can’t hurt you now.”

Shiro shudders. “I remembered what you told me.” He says quietly. “About how terrible the empire was. I always thought you were exaggerating. But now I know that you were actually _downplaying_ everything.” He shudders again.

“I’m so sorry, Shiro.” Keith whispers and nuzzles against Shiro’s neck. “I’m so, so sorry I couldn’t find you sooner.”

“I know you tried.” Shiro says shakily, wrapping his flesh arm around Keith. “But, hey, I did it. I survived, just like I promised I would.”

Keith pulls back to cup Shiro’s face in his palms. “And I found you.” he leans in and kisses Shiro, feather light, and feels him shudder again, and then let out a choked sob. “Oh, Takashi,” Keith whimpers and pulls Shiro closer to him as he shakes. “I know. I know.”

“The things they did to me,” Shiro chokes, “the things _I_ did to others…”

“I know.” Keith whispers.

“If you hadn’t warned me… I might not have survived.” Shiro shivers, curling his arm tighter around Keith’s torso.

“But you did.” Keith says firmly. “You did. And it was terrible, and horrifying, and it will never be _okay_ , what happened to you, but you did survive. And now you can live again.”

“I don’t know about that.” Shiro sighs.

“I do.” Keith kisses Shiro’s forehead. “It may not seem like it now, but the empire and the witch’s druids… they can’t hurt you anymore. Not now, and not _ever_. If for no other reason than _I won’t let them_.”

Shiro huffs a laugh and then lifts his head, pressing his forehead against Keith’s again. “That, I can believe.”

Keith purrs deep in his chest. “You should try and get some more sleep, if you can.” He says. He points over at the dresser in the corner. “If you wake up before me again, I have some of your clothes in the second drawer.”

Shiro nods, and lets Keith tug him back down to the bed, this time with Keith on his back and Shiro’s head over his heart.

“I missed you.” Shiro whispers.

Keith sighs and closes his eyes, fingers playing over the short hairs on the back of Shiro’s head.

“I missed you too, Takashi.”

~*~

Keith wakes again a few hours later. The other three are asleep still, and Shiro is gone. Keith rolls out of bed quietly, pulling on his jacket and his shoes before stepping outside. Shiro is standing on the little mound in front of the shack, looking out at the desert, rubbing at the wrist of his new metal arm.

Keith approaches him slowly and places a hand on his shoulder. “It’s good to have you back.” He murmurs.

Shiro turns to look at him and smiles tiredly. “It’s good to be back.”

“Let me take a look at that.” He says, nodding towards the arm Shiro is still rubbing at, and the older man balks.

“Keith, no, it’s not just a replacement arm, it’s-”

“A weapon.” Keith finishes, nodding. “It’s not the first prosthetic I’ve seen, you know. Kolivan’s lower left leg is prosthetic too. I’ve helped my dad do maintenance on it. And a family friend was _obsessed_ with robot arms. He taught me a lot about different models. Just let me check yours, please.”

He holds out a hand, and Shiro hesitates before letting Keith take his arm gently. Keith presses down on a panel for a few moments, and when he releases it, it pops open, revealing the inner circuitry. Shiro makes a startled noise.

“I… didn’t know it could do that.”

“Well, they wouldn’t want you messing with it.” Keith says absently, examining the wiring and carefully moving a few out of the way, causing Shiro’s fingers to twitch. “This is a nice model.” He says, surprised.

“I was… weirdly important.” Shiro says slowly, brow furrowing.

“What’s wrong?”

“I… I can’t actually remember a lot of what happened. It’s all kind of a blur.”

Keith nods. “That’s not surprising. Dad treated a lot of our people who’d been tortured, and they always said it was hard to remember. It’s something like the brain wanting to protect you from trauma.”

Shiro nods. “It’s a symptom of PTSD.”

“Well, I can understand why you’d have post-traumatic stress.” Keith mutters, and closes the panel on Shiro’s arm. “I didn’t see any bugs or anything, so I think you’re clear.”

“Thanks.”

Keith looks up at Shiro, who can’t seem to meet his eyes. “What’s up, Takashi?”

“I just… you kissed me last night.”

Keith raises an eyebrow. “Yeah. I did.”

Shiro looks at him, visibly tense. “Does that mean you still…?”

Keith’s other eyebrow raises. “Still love you?”

“Yeah.”

“Of course I still love you, Shiro.” Keith says, mildly offended. “I never stopped. I’ve spent the past year trying to find a way to go after you. I _hated_ that you were gone for so long, that there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I knew they had you, knew they were hurting you, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I was going _insane_.” He clenches his hands into fists and feels his claws cut into his palms.

“Keith, purple.” Shiro says quietly, brushing a strand of hair out of Keith’s face with his human hand.

“I don’t _care_.” Keith whines, stepping forwards and wrapping his arms around Shiro. “I never stopped worrying about you. I love you so much, how could you ever think otherwise?”

“It’s been a long time.” Shiro says quietly. “And… I’m not the same man I was when I left.”

“I know that.” Keith murmurs, nuzzling into Shiro’s neck. “Of course I know that. But while you may be different, you are still you. That’s something they can’t change. They might have taken a lot of things from you, Shiro, but they can’t _ever_ take me away from you.”

Shiro shudders and wraps his arms – both of them – around Keith tightly. “I never stopped thinking about you.” Shiro whispers. “I never forgot what you told me, or the promise I made you. The witch tried to get in my head, but I kept her out. I couldn’t let her find you. I couldn’t let her _hurt_ you.”

“I’m okay.” Keith murmurs, purring quietly in hopes of soothing his frazzled mate. “I’m okay.”

“I missed you.” Shiro says, voice cracking. “I dreamed about you every night, and I’d wake up looking for you, and you weren’t there. So many times I dreamed we were back here, and I just… it _hurt_.”

“I know, Takashi. But you are home now. I’ve got you.”

“You found me.”

Keith laughs quietly. “I told you I would.”

Shiro pulls out of the hug just enough so he can look at Keith. “No, I mean, you found me, here. When I… how did you know to come save me when I crashed?”

Keith tilts his head. “You should come see this.” He gestures back to the shack.

Shiro nods and follows him back inside. The others are awake now, and Katie – Pidge – and Hunk are both giving him soft looks. He waves them off and steps towards the covered board, yanking off the tarp.

Shiro’s eyes widen. “Keith, what have you been working on?”

He considers trying to be vague so as not to tip the others off, but he decides, fuck it. They know aliens are a thing now. So he says “When I first got here, I heard something in the desert. It sounded like an engine, but I was too concerned with other things at the time to realize it.” He looks up at the board.

“After you disappeared, I came out here looking for it, hoping I could use it to find you. I found these caves with pictures of a _blue lion_.” He taps the pictures he’d taken of the carvings.

Shiro’s eyes widen. “Voltron.”

“Yeah. A Voltron lion, here on Earth.”

“They were saying something about Voltron, on the ship, before I escaped.” Shiro’s brow furrows. “Keith, they know it’s here. They’re coming for it.”

“Fuck.” Keith hisses. “I haven’t been able to figure out how to get to it, but we’ve got to do it, _now_.”

“I’ve heard them talk about Voltron.” Kati- Pidge says. “They’re almost here.”

“Oh gods _dammit_.” Keith growls, and then Hunk, genius that he is, tells him he can track the metal the lions are made from. Pidge asks about her family, but Shiro tells her that he can’t remember, and that they were separated early on anyway.

She looks away and bites her lip, and Keith leans over to wrap an arm around her shoulders. She leans into it absently. Thankfully no one seems to notice their familiarity, too busy watching Hunk make the Geiger counter.

“Got it!” The engineer crows. “Okay, let’s go find this…ship? Is it a ship?”

Keith grins and claps Hunk on the shoulder. “Yes. It is.” Finally, _finally_ , Keith might be able to go home. And with that in mind he grabs his bag and packs all the things he’d brought with him. Kaagra, the crystal, the figure, the map. And now, he also adds the piece of jade Shiro had given him. “A memento of Earth”, as Shiro had called it. Keith closes the bag and slings it over his shoulder, turning to face the others.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

They venture out into the desert, and Hunk finds a cave Keith hasn’t been in before. Then they’re all falling through the floor.

They land in a puddle of water, groaning.

Keith hisses and sits up, rubbing his head, then…

“Oh my gods.” He whispers.

Sitting in front of them, wrapped in a particle barrier, is the Blue Lion of Voltron.

The others all notice it then and all voice their own surprise but Keith… he grew up with his dad telling him stories about Voltron. This is literally his childhood dream, right in front of him. His one, very small regret is that it’s not the Red Lion. The Red Lion was always his favorite.

Keith stands and walks over to it slowly, hearing the others follow. He makes it up to the barrier and places a hand on it, frowning.

“Okay, Keith. What now?” Shiro asks.

“I’m not sure.” He says, brow furrowing.

“What?? But you’re the one who seems to actually know about this stuff!” Lance squawks. Keith growls in frustration.

“Yeah, but the lion won’t let us in. It’s a part of the legend people don’t normally talk about. The lions… their _sentient_. They choose their own paladins. She’s not going to let anyone inside but her paladin.”

“So what do we do?” Pidge asks.

“Working on it.” Keith sighs and stands back, looking up at the Blue Lion.

“Maybe you just have to knock.” Lance says, and Keith growls again… but then it actually works, and the barrier comes down, and they all get a vision of the lions turning into Voltron.

“Keith, was that…?” Shiro asks.

“Yeah. That was Voltron.” He sighs, and pinches the bridge of his nose. “And this means… Lance is the new Blue Paladin.”

Lance crows and dashes inside. Keith kind of hates everything. Especially when Lance busts out of the rock and starts doing loops.

“You are the worst pilot ever!” Keith growls, and then they get out of Earth’s atmosphere, and Keith forgets to be angry.

 _Stars_. He can see endless amounts of stars again. He already feels closer to home than he has in three years. He feels Shiro’s hand grip his shoulder and he swallows thickly.

But then a Galra battle cruiser shows up.

Lance takes them out to Kerberos, and a wormhole shows up. The others look to Shiro for guidance, but Shiro looks at Keith.

“You’re the one who knows the most about this.” He says. “What should we do?”

Keith grits his teeth and looks at the wormhole. “Go through.”

“You heard him, Lance.” Shiro addresses the pilot.

Lance sighs. “I guess we’re all skipping class tomorrow.”

And they pass through the wormhole.

~*~

They come out on the other side of the galaxy, and Keith is _relieved_.

“Arus.” He murmurs, pointing to the planet. “The Castle of Lions was supposedly sent there after Altea was destroyed, to keep it safe.”

They land, and there it is. The actual Castle of Lions. Keith might be dying a little bit on the inside.

The lion roars, the doors open, and they go inside.

They eventually make their way into the stasis pod chamber. Keith looks around, marveling at actual Altean architecture. If his dad were here, he’d be flipping his shit.

Then one of the cryo pods rises up and… Princess Allura comes tumbling out.

She falls into Lance’s arms, and then she twists him into submission. Keith smirks. He’d always liked her, in the stories.

“Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?”

Keith steps forwards. “Princess Allura.”

The others all stare at him, and the princess frowns. “I do not know you. How do you know me?”

“I grew up hearing legends about Altea.” He says. He knows everyone but Shiro is giving him a freaked out look. “Legends about your father, and you, and Voltron.”

She frowns. “ _Legends_ about Altea?”

Oh no. “Princess, do you have any idea how long you’ve been in that pod?”

She frowns again and crosses to the control panel, activating it and looking through the data. In the meantime, another pod spits out someone who must be King Alfor’s advisor. Coran, he thinks the man’s name is.

“We’ve been asleep for ten thousand years.” The princess says in shock.

“I’m afraid so.” Keith says. “And during that time, the empire has conquered almost the entire known universe.”

Allura turns to look at him again. “And how do you know this? The rest of your companions seem to have no idea what you are talking about.”

“That’s because we don’t.” Hunk volunteers. “How do you know about all of this, Keith?”

Keith sighs. He guesses since he’s no longer on Earth, he doesn’t have to lie anymore. “I’m not fully human.” He says, looking at the others. “I’m not from Earth.”

“Keith, purple.” Shiro murmurs.

Keith smirks over at his mate. “That’s kind of the point this time, Takashi.” Then he closes his eyes, and lets the shift happen.

“I’m half Galra.” He says, opening his eyes to see the shocked expressions of the others. “I grew up out here, in space. I know about the war because I’ve been living through it.”

“Holy shit.” Pidge whispers. Hunk looks like he’s about to faint, and Lance is gaping like a fish.

Shiro settles a hand on his shoulder, and he leans back into it, purring quietly. Then he looks at the princess, who looks furious.

 _“Galra_.” She snarls, and Keith snarls right back, startling everyone but her and Shiro.

“Don’t you _Galra_ me. I’m on your side. The empire is despicable, and needs to be torn down.”

The princess looks at him coldly. “You’re all the same. Power-hungry, violent, brutal. You’ll kill us all at first opportunity. It’s probably why you’re here, isn’t it? To kill the last Alteans.”

“No!” Keith snaps, “It’s not! Look, the people I grew up with, my family, my _pack_ , we’re all Galra, and we’re working to _stop_ the empire. We’re a rebel group, the Blade of Marmora. You know who Marmora is, don’t you, princess?”

Her eyes narrow. “She was a champion of the Galra. It was said her blade would right all wrongs that plagued the empire.”

“And that’s _exactly_ what we’re trying to do.” Keith says. But the princess still looks at him like he’s trash.

“In any event,” She says coolly, “we need to find the lions, and form Voltron.”

Keith growls, but shifts back to looking human, letting Shiro pull him back. Something tells him this is not the last time his origin is going to be a point of contention with the princess.

~*~

She does tell him he’s going to be piloting the _Red Lion_ , so that. That’s a thing.

The others come back from getting the Green and Yellow Lions, and they tell them the Red Lion is on the battle cruiser, right above them.

So, stealth mission it is.

He and Shiro and Pidge sneak aboard, and then it all goes a little off script.

They find out Shiro had been here, and Pidge wants to look for more prisoners. For her family.

“Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were on the Kerberos mission with you.” She says, staring up at Shiro.

Shiro’s eyes widen and his jaw drops. “ _Katie?”_

Keith sighs. “Did you really just now figure that out? I mean look at her, she looks just like Matt!”

“Thanks for not saying anything to the others, by the way.” She says to Keith, and he waves her off.

“Of course not, but was this really your ‘drastic measure’? Joining the Garrison as a boy who just so happened to look _exactly like Matt Holt!?”_

She winces. “Well, I didn’t realize how similar we actually look until I cut my hair. And to be fair, Iverson never noticed.”

“That really doesn’t surprise me in the least.” Keith deadpans.

“You busted up his eye by the way.” She tells him cheerfully. “He can’t see out of the one you punched anymore.”

Keith grins. “Excellent.”

“You did what?” Shiro says, looking at Keith in concern.

“Now’s not the time to talk about it, Takashi.” He says dismissively, then gets back on track. “Okay, so, what, are you guys gonna go look for the Holts?” He asks.

“Yeah. I suppose we are.” Shiro sighs and gives Keith another concerned look. “Are you gonna be able to find the Red Lion on your own?”

Keith gives a sigh of his own and looks down the hall. “It might take a while. Galra battle cruisers are designed to be mazes so anyone who doesn’t know where they’re going will be hopelessly lost. It’s to keep prisoners from escaping, or keep boarders lost.”

“Yeah, I know.” Shiro says wryly.

“Right,” Keith winces.

“I know you can do it.” Shiro says, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder and squeezing. “Just remember: patience yields focus.”

Keith smiles. “I know.” Then they hear a sentry approach, and they have to move.

Keith… does get lost, even following the lion’s quintessence. But he stops, breathes, repeats Shiro’s words. And he finds it.

She won’t let him in at first.

“Hey,” He says, placing a hand on the barrier. “I’m your new paladin. And I’m going to get you out of here.” _Earn its respect_. He says in his head. Okay, how is he supposed to do that?

Then a bunch of sentries shows up, and he nearly gets himself killed out in the vacuum of space. Recklessness does run in his family, after all.

The Red Lion comes for him though, so that’s something.

Then they get the Black Lion (his mate is the leader of Voltron, Keith is so proud) and they form Voltron (Keith is hyperventilating) and then they destroy the battle cruiser.

That night, Keith ignores it when Coran tries to lead him to a different room, walking into the one Shiro had been given and sitting on the bed, raising an eyebrow at the older Altean.

Coran looks at Shiro, who smiles. “This is fine. Thank you, Coran.”

“Yes, alright. Goodnight, paladins.” He turns to walk away, but then looks back at Keith. “Oh, don’t worry about the princess too much. She’ll come around.”

Keith huffs, but nods. He sure hopes so.

After the door closes, Shiro sits beside him on the bed heavily.

“Tired?” Keith asks, leaning against his mate.

“I feel like I could sleep for a week.” Shiro confesses, unzipping his vest and shrugging it off.

Keith hums in agreement. “I doubt we’ll have the time, but I feel you.”

“We’re paladins of Voltron.” Shiro says, bending down to unlace his boots. “We’re smack dab in the middle of this war.”

Keith sighs and takes off his own boots. “I prefer being in the middle of it to being out of the loop entirely. I just wish you didn’t have to be a part of it. You deserve to rest.”

“I wouldn’t want to just be lying around when you’re risking _your_ life. And I could never just stand by idly.  You know that.”

“I know.” Keith sighs and tosses his jacket towards the chair in the cornet, then peels his shirt off over his head. Then he looks at Shiro.

“Are you sleeping in that?” He asks, eyeing the tight black undershirt.

Shiro shifts uncomfortably. “I have a lot of scars now.” He says quietly.

Keith’s eyes soften, and he reaches up to run a finger along the scar cutting into Shiro’s nose and cheeks.

“I know.”

“No,” Shiro objects, grabbing Keith’s wrist and pulling his hand down. “You don’t.”

“I do.” Keith says firmly. “You don’t think I haven’t seen my fair share of horrible injuries inflicted by the Empire? Antok is _covered_ in scars. Kolivan lost his leg. Even Dad and Papa have some bad ones.”

“But I, I’m,” Shiro starts, then seems to think better of whatever it was he was going to say.

“Shiro, Takashi, look at me.” He uses the fingers of the hand Shiro still holds to tilt the older man’s face towards him.

“I don’t care, okay? I don’t care about the scars. I don’t care if you look different. The only reason that I care about them is because they mean you _survived_. That you kept your promise and you came back to me. If you really don’t want to show them to me, that’s fine, but don’t do it if your only reason is I might have an adverse reaction.”

Shiro is quiet for several long moments before he very slowly grabs the hem of his undershirt and tugs it off, then he sits immobile, hands gripping the sheets.

Keith’s eyes rake along his mate’s bare torso. Shiro hadn’t been kidding. They were really bad. Keith reaches out and traces the thick band of scarring where flesh meets the metal of his prosthetic, and when Shiro doesn’t object, he finds other scars to trace. Shiro flinches once or twice, but not from pain. He’s embarrassed. Scared. Nervous. The intense wave of scent makes Keith’s nose twitch, but he ignores it in favor of learning the new lines on his mate’s skin. He has to shift around a lot to reach them all, but he thinks he manages.

He finishes his inspection by pressing a kiss to the scar on Shiro’s nose. “Beautiful.” He says simply, and Shiro huffs a laugh, tension draining out of his shoulders at last.

Keith very carefully presses Shiro down to the mattress and curls up against his side, pulling the blankets over them.

“Thank you.” He murmurs, nuzzling against Shiro’s neck.

“Why are you thanking me?” Shiro whispers, voice hoarse. He wraps an arm around Keith, tugging him closer and Keith hums quietly.

“For coming back.”

“I’ll always come back, Keith.”

Keith smiles. “You’d better.”

It’s quiet for a few long moments before Shiro says “I guess with all of this happening… it’s going to be a while before we can get you back to the Blade.”

Keith sighs. “I know. And even if I could go now, I’m not sure how to get there from here. But I will find them, eventually. They can help us against the empire after all. I’m closer than I’ve been in three years, and that’s enough for now. I just have to wait a little longer. Patience yields focus, right?”

Shiro hums and kisses the top of his head. “Yeah.”

Keith sighs and closes his eyes. He has Shiro back and safe in his arms. He’ll go home. Not now, but soon. For now, that is enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least Allura's getting her angst out of the way early. Anyway, Hi! Welcome back! I missed this 'verse! After having to write Shiro disappearing in LOTRO this was a nice counter! I hope everyone's ready for BOM Paladin Keith! See you soon!


	2. The Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a beautiful time to be in the Voltron fandom. S7 has already given us so much. Gods bless.  
> Have some Galra!Keith dealing with the beginning of S1. I'll just be over here. Thinking about the Shiro thing.

The next day is absolutely awful.

They all wake up to Allura shouting over the comms about an attack, but thankfully it was just a false alarm. Then she makes them train, which, okay, Keith gets, they have no idea what they’re doing as Paladins, and the only one who even vaguely understands what it really means to be one is Keith, so of course they have to go out and try to form Voltron.

But really, was turning on the castle defenses and aiming at them _really_ necessary?

Then they go through an endless amount of exercises. As much as Keith may not want to admit it, Allura is right. They don’t work as a team. Well, they _kind of_ do. For a long time when they do the “keep your teammate from getting shot, he and Shiro and Lance seem to do okay, but then Lance flares up with competitiveness and Keith goes crashing through the floor.

And for some godsdamned reason, he’s assigned to be the one to lead Lance through an invisible maze. He could have just saved everyone the trouble if they’d listened to him when he said that was _not going to work_. Lance doesn’t trust Keith, at all, for some reason.

At least he knows it’s not because of him being half-Galra. None of the other humans seem to care, except to ask him questions.

“So, was it weird? Being on Earth? Or had you wanted to visit? Did we have any customs you found weird? Is it _normal_ for Galra to have hybrid kids? Or have four parents? Your dads are all Galra too, right? Or are they?” Pidge had asked eagerly when they were taking a short break.

Shiro laughed when Keith sighed. “It was very weird being on Earth, yes, I’d wanted to visit, but I had wanted to go with my dads, _all_ of your customs seemed a little weird to me – your so much more closed off than we are – so it was hard for me to get by at first, It’s not uncommon for hybrids to be born but the empire treats them – us – like dirt and calls them second-class citizens, and the four parents thing is kind of a unique circumstance for me.  I mean, packs usually all take care of kits-” “You mean kids?” “-no, kits. But to actually have four people who exclusively raise you is not exactly common.” Keith smirks. “I’m just lucky like that. And yes, all of my dads are fully Galra. Well, Dad has a little bit of something else. I think his great-grandmother bonded with… an Unilu? Maybe? He wasn’t sure what.”

Pidge looks vaguely star-struck. Keith grins. “You’d like my dad. He’s equally fascinated by alien cultures. You two could compare notes.”

Her smile softens. “Well, I can’t wait to meet him then.”

Keith is not sure how to feel about that. The idea that his human friends are going to meet his fathers, it makes something warm and soft bubble in his chest. But before he can respond, Hunk asks him about alien food and Keith gives him a basic rundown of what’s similar and different.

“I can point you in the direction of some earth-tasting things in the pantry later if you want.” He tells the Yellow Paladin. Hunk lights up.

“Yes please!”

Lance’s only comment on his non-human nature is to snort and say “No wonder you never got a date. Whoever went out with you would be a fucking furry.”

Keith furrows his brow. “What in the void is a furry?”

When Lance opens his mouth to answer, Pidge slaps a hand over his mouth and says to Keith “it’s better if you don’t know.”

Lance glares at the Green Paladin and Shiro gives Lance his Dad Look. “Lance, you do remember _I’m_ dating Keith, right?”

Lance blanches. “Well, I mean, it’s not like you _knew_ you were dating a purple space cat, right?” He stutters.

“Actually, I did.”

They all stare at Shiro in shock. Keith grins smugly and drapes himself over Shiro’s lap, purring.

“Keith told me the first summer he was on Earth. Said he was tired of hiding it from me.”

“I was.” Keith says quietly, and Shiro combs his fingers through his hair.

“So I’ve known Keith wasn’t fully human for a long time now.”

“That’s why you didn’t seem surprised yesterday.” Hunk says. “Because you already knew.”

Then Coran comes in and urges them out of the room so they can do blind nose-dives. That goes… well. Ahem.

Then they do the mental exercises, and Pidge keeps thinking about Matt and Shiro says they should take another break.

And Allura comes in and yells at them. She’s glaring very specifically at Keith, like it’s _his_ fault.

The Gladiator is terrible, and it causes Shiro to have a bad flashback and while Keith is trying to calm him down the gladiator sends them both flying.

“Easy, Shiro. You’re okay.” Keith says as soon as he scrambles off Shiro so he can cup the older man’s face in his hands. “Shh, you’re alright. You’re safe.”

“That combat simulator was set at a level fit for an Altean child!” Allura says in disgust. “You’re not even _close_ to working as a team, let alone ready to face Zarkon!”

Keith snarls up at her, leaning over Shiro protectively. “Oh so you think it’s _his_ fault he had a flashback?”

She stares at him coldly. “No, but I think it’s your fault for not protecting him.”

That punches a hole in Keith’s gut, and he jumps up to, well, probably punch the princess of Altea in the face, but Shiro holds him back.

“We’re tired, princess. And we haven’t eaten all day. Maybe now would be a good time to break for lunch, come back when we’ve gotten some energy back?”

Keith and Allura continue to glare at each other for a long moment, before the princess huffs. “Very well.”

“I can’t _stand_ her.” Keith snarls as they’re walking towards the dining hall. “She _hates_ me for no fucking reason! Just because I’m half Galra doesn’t mean I’m-!”

“Keith, purple.” Shiro says gently.

“Dammit.” Keith sighs and clenches his fists. No claws, so probably his eyes just flashed. “Why is it so easy for her to make me lose my cool?”

“She makes you angry. And I don’t disagree with that anger.” Shiro says, squeezing Keith’s shoulder tightly, then dropping his hand to squeeze his fingers around Keith’s wrist. “She’s being extremely prejudiced, and she’s going to need to get over it, hopefully soon. But for right now, I think the best thing you can do is ignore her.”

Keith growls again but lets Shiro lead him to the dining room.

Where Coran won’t let them sit next to each other. The fuck?

Then they’re handcuffed, and Keith understands why. If he and Shiro had been handcuffed together, they wouldn’t have had any problem. As it is, he’s handcuffed to _Lance._ Pidge isn’t so bad. But _Lance_.

Long story short, it ends in a food fight, and they go form Voltron.

“Good work, Paladins!” Allura says when they’re all getting ready to head for bed. “I’m proud of all of you.” Her eyes slide to Keith as she says that, and they narrow.

“Well, not _all_ of us.” Keith mutters.

“I admit, I didn’t think you could work with a team. I’ve never known Galra to play nice with others.” She sniffs.

Keith grits his teeth. “That’s a damn lie, and you know it. The Galra and the Alteans were allies for _centuries_ before the war. It’s Zarkon who made the Galra your enemies, princess, the rest of us? We didn’t have a choice in the matter. Some of us are trying to do something about it. Can’t you give us a chance?”

“All Galra are the same.” She says, expression icy. “The empire is destroying everything. And you’re just as much to blame for this war as Zarkon himself.”

Keith snaps. “This war. This war? _Ha,_ you don’t know a fucking thing about this war!” he snarls, jumping to his feet. He knows the others are staring, but right now he doesn’t give a fuck.

“You might have seen the beginning, but you weren’t awake when your system died. And that was the _real_ start of the war, because whatever you’d seen before, it got so much _worse_. That’s when Zarkon declared war on the entire fucking universe. And he’s killed, and stolen, and _burned_ everything and everyone he’s come across, including his own people.”

He feels Shiro try to pull him back, but he shakes him off. “ _You_ have been sleeping, _princess_. You haven’t seen this war. You’ve only seen a brief glimpse of it. But _me_? I’ve fucking lived it! Every day, I’d see people I’d known all my life leave, and have _no idea_ if I’d ever see them again! I’d see people I considered family go off on a mission, and _never come home!_ I _get_ that you lost your family, and you didn’t have time to say goodbye, but I am faced with losing my family _every damn day._ I haven’t been home in _three years_ and I have _no idea_ if my fathers are even alive! They are out there, risking their lives fighting the empire, and they very well could have died for it! So _fuck you_ and your godsdamned prejudice!”

He turns and stalks out of the room, ears lying flat against his skull. He didn’t even notice when he shifted.

Shiro catches up to him a few moments later, grabbing his shoulder to stop him. “Keith,”

“I am _not_ apologizing to her, Shiro.” Keith hisses. “Not for that. Not ever.”

“I know. I wasn’t going to ask you to.” The Black Paladin says quietly, tugging on Keith’s shoulder so he turns to face him. Shiro looks at him in obvious concern. “Are you alright?”

Keith whines low in his throat. “ _No_.”

“Come here.” Shiro pulls him forwards and guides Keith’s face into the crook of his neck. Keith makes a low, wounded sound and buries his face there, inhaling his mate’s soothing scent greedily.

“I hate her.”

“Shh,” Shiro murmurs, rubbing his back with one hand and gripping his wrist with the other as Keith trembles against him. “It’s okay, Keith. It’s all going to be okay.”

“Gods, I hope so.”

Suddenly he feels someone else’s hands on his back, and a cheek is pressed against his shoulder. “Screw the princess.” Pidge says. “She doesn’t know you. We do. And we think you’re great.”

“Thanks, Katie.” He says quietly, pulling away from Shiro so he can twist to look at her over his shoulder. “C’mere.” He holds out an arm and she ducks under it, tucking herself between him and Shiro.

“Group hug.” She says cheerfully.

“Pack pile.” Keith corrects, ducking down to scent her too. She giggles.

“So that’s why you were always nosing our necks. You’re scenting us.”

“Mm,” Keith hums, relishing being with people he loves.

“You’re such a cat.” She teases. “Matt was right.”

“He really is. You have no idea.” Shiro laughs.

“I take it back, I hate both of you.” Keith mutters.

~*~

A few days after that, the local Arusians come by to see what all the activity has been about, and he, Hunk and Lance accompany Allura (who has not said a word to him since his outburst, but then again, he hasn’t said anything to her either) to the Arusian village.

Turns out the Arusians love to cuddle. Keith finds himself sitting on the ground with five of the kids pressed up around him. He purrs happily, and all of them sigh simultaneously. Galra purring is known to be ridiculously soothing to _everyone_ , and it seems to be holding true.

“You really do purr.” Hunk says, coming to sit down with him. “And all this time I thought it was just my imagination.”

“So you _did_ hear it.” Keith says, looking up at the Yellow Paladin.

“Yeah, hard not to. You did it constantly. How does your chest not hurt from doing it all the time?”

Keith shrugs. “I don’t. I only did it constantly around you because it calmed you down.”

Hunk blinks. “Really?”

“Yeah. You always smelled like anxiety, and Galra purring is known to calm people down. I wanted to help.”

“I, huh.” Hunk gives him an unreadable look. “That’s… really sweet. Thank you, Keith.”

Keith shrugs, careful not to dislodge a little Arusian girl who’s made herself comfortable on his shoulders. “You’re pack. It’s kind of par for the course to want to take care of you.”

Hunk looks at him for a long moment, and then his eyes start to water. Keith chirps in concern.

“I’m part of your pack? Aw, dude, I love you too!” Hunk somehow manages to hug him without squishing any of the kids.

Keith chirps again, but then resumes purring, louder now. Hunk laughs and sits back. “I don’t get how anyone could ever think you’re antisocial or hate people. You’re the cuddliest person I know.”

Keith shrugs. “Humans aren’t good with the massive amounts of tactile comfort I’m used to. I never knew what was okay, so I just… didn’t try. Thankfully Shiro came along and I could cling to him as much as I wanted.”

“Well, if you want you can cling to me too, buddy. I love hugs.”

Keith purrs even louder.

Then a giant Galra-made robot crashes and they have to go fight it and Shiro has lots of flashbacks and Keith is concerned.

After the battle is over and the prisoners they rescued from Sendak’s ship are sent off, he goes hunting for his mate.

He finds Shiro and Pidge talking about Matt, how Shiro had attacked Matt to spare him from having to fight. Pidge throws her arms around Shiro as he approaches.

“I’m so sorry I doubted you. Thank you, thank you so much.”

Shiro wraps his arms around her in return. “I can tell you really miss them. I know they miss you too. Your brother and father would be proud of you, Katie.”

“You think so?” She asks quietly.

“I know so.”

Keith sits down on Shiro’s other side, making the other two jump.

“We’ll find them.” He says, looking at Pidge. “And then we can lock them up in the castle so they can’t disappear on you again.” He side-eyes Shiro. “I’m tempted to do that to you too.”

Shiro laughs and Pidge beams at him. “We can shove your fathers in the mix too, if you want.” She says.

“Sounds good to me.” Keith mutters.

She reaches over Shiro to pat his thigh. “We’ll find _both_ our families. Soon.”

Keith smiles and leans into Shiro’s side. “Yeah. We will.”

~*~

That night, he curls around Shiro tightly after the Black Paladin has fallen asleep, purring quietly. He figures he knows what’s coming. And he was right. About an hour after Shiro had drifted off, he begins thrashing, mouth twisting into a grimace and hands clawing at the sheets. He’s quiet about it, but Keith isn’t surprised. Antok’s nightmares had always been quiet too.

Keith brushes Shiro’s white locks out of his face and starts purring again, murmuring quietly. “It’s alright, Takashi. You’re safe now. They can’t hurt you. Come here,” He slides his hands down Shiro’s arms slowly, squeezing his hands when he reaches them. “It’s okay. I’m here. You’re safe in the castle. Come on, Takashi, come back to me.”

Shiro jerks awake with a quiet gasp.

“Easy, easy, you’re alright. You’re safe.” Keith soothes.

“Keith?”

“I’m here. I’m real. You’re not dreaming. You’re in the Castle of Lions.” He releases Shiro’s Galra hand to card his fingers through Shiro’s hair slowly.

Shiro sighs in a shaky exhale. “I’m okay now.” He whispers, and Keith purrs quietly, sliding back down in the bed and laying his head over Shiro’s heart.

Shiro untangles their fingers carefully so he can wrap his arm around Keith. “Did I wake you?”

“No, I didn’t go to sleep. I figured you’d have a nightmare, after what happened today.”

Shiro hums and turns his head to kiss the top of Keith’s. “Thank you for waking me up, baby.”

“Anytime. I’m always going to be right here, okay? You’re not ever going to be their plaything again. I’ll never let them touch you again.”

Shiro’s arm tightens around him. “I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allura will get better before part 4, I can promise that. And it's interesting to write Keith being cuddly with the aliens because in canon he's decidedly Not Into That. It's a lot of fun and I love cuddly Galra Keith. The next chapter is Sendak's takeover which is not fun but shh let me have fun while I can. See you Wednesday!
> 
> Also, I have a spoiler-ish question so: 
> 
> SPOILERS FOR SEASON 7 BELOW. DON'T READ THE REST OF THE COMMENTS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING.
> 
> Okay so now that we know Shiro had a bf and had a debilitating illness, I want to go back and write those things into Part 2 (and the early chapters of LOTRO, for those who read that too). My question is how to do that. Should I just go back and edit the respective chapters? Would that be too difficult? I want to include Adam as he's going to play a part in canon, I just want to see if you all would be willing to go back and re-read parts, or more appropriately IF you would go back and re-read parts if I edit them. I'm probably going to either way for my own sake, just wondering what people's thoughts are!


	3. The Siege

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, friends! Have a frantic Keith during Sendak's hostile takeover!

A few nights later, the castle is getting ready to leave Arus. They invite the Arusians over for a send-off party, as a way of saying thank you for hosting the castle for the past ten thousand years. Shiro doesn’t like having the doors wide open for anyone to wander in and out. Keith doesn’t blame him. It’s weird, having those huge doors open to the world. Sendak is still out there somewhere, and Keith knows he’s going to try something before they leave. Hopefully he’s too far away to interfere tonight though. Keith’s actually having fun.

Aside from the weird convoluted chant thing Lance tried to start. Keith doesn’t get it, and doubts he ever will. He is very amused when Lance can’t handle his nunville though. Keith looks him straight in the eye and downs his whole glass without blinking. Lance scowls. Keith is ridiculously pleased.

And then Pidge wants to leave. To find Matt and her dad.

“Pidge,” he says, eyes widening. “You can’t leave.”

She bristles and glares at him. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

“Do you have any idea what’s out there? Or even where to start looking? No. And I promise you, a pod is not going to get you very far.” Keith says, fighting to remain calm. It’s not her fault. He understands, really. But no way in the _void_ is he letting his packmate wander around in space alone.

“I have to find my family!” She spits.

“You don’t think I want to find mine too?” He asks, voice hardening. “You don’t think I want to take Red and go tearing off looking for them? Of course I do! But this war is so much bigger than any one of us! And on top of that, going out alone is suicide! You can’t just-”

Shiro grabs his arm and tugs him back. He growls quietly in frustration and feels his claws cut into his palms.

“Keith, that’s not how a team works. You have to want to be a part of it.” Shiro says firmly, then turns to Pidge. “If you want to go, we won’t stop you, but please, just think about what you’re doing.”

But she turns and walks away. Keith snarls and looks out towards the open door, taking deep breaths to try and calm down… and catches something off in the air. He frowns.

“Shiro.”

The Black Paladin sighs and turns to look at him. “Yeah?”

“Something smells off.”

“How do you mean?”

He turns back to look at his mate, eyes narrowing. “I smell Galra.”

And then the lights go out as an explosion rocks the castle.

They race to the bridge to find the crystal has been destroyed and Lance is very badly injured.

Then the Arusians say their village is under attack. Keith growls. Dammit. _Dammit_ , he knew something was off. “I’ll go check out the village.” He says after Coran and Hunk run off with Pidge to go to the Balmera.

“I’m coming with you.” Allura says, and Keith raises an eyebrow.

“What, you think I’ll see Sendak and turn traitor?”

“No.” She snaps, then looks away. “Not… entirely, anyway, but it’s my fault the Arusians are in this position. I want to help if I can.”

Keith nods. “Then let’s go.”

~*~

Shiro is taking Lance towards the main hall when he sees him. Sendak. He remembers Sendak well from the arena. One of the few things he does remember. A monster who was always demanding blood. He’d killed his fair share of prisoners, and was always trying to convince Zarkon to let him fight Shiro. He supposes now he’ll get his wish.

Sendak smirks as he approaches. “Well well, Champion, look at you. You’ve been away for a while now, and yet you _still_ smell like a Galra. Maybe you’re more like one of us than you think.”

Shiro tries to ignore the comment. Sendak must be smelling Keith.

He fights the monstrous Commander.

And loses.

~*~

Keith and Allura arrive at the Arusian village to see a group of sentries, and a lot of fire.

“I’ll go take a closer look.” He tells the princess, then jumps down into the flames before she can protest.

He can’t smell anything over the scent of burning, so he can’t tell if Sendak is here, and the sentries don’t tend to smell like much of anything.

He creeps closer to where he’d seen the group of robots clustered, and then his nostrils flare. He smells oil and internal fluid. Sentries only ever smell like the fluid that keeps them running when they’ve been heavily damaged enough to tear at their internal wiring. He looks out just to confirm his suspicions. The sentries are all damaged beyond repair. This had been a trap.

“They tricked us!” He snarls over the comm. “It was just a diversion to separate us and thin the castle defenses.”

He jets back up to Allura and the waiting Arusians. “We have to get back _now_.” He says and takes off running. He can hear the princess’s footsteps right behind him. He prays they make it in time. He’d promised Shiro he’d keep him safe, and he’s going to do that, _dammit_.

They arrive just as the Galra particle barrier closes entirely. Keith growls and slams his fist against it fruitlessly. “Dammit. _Dammit_. We’re too late.”

“They have control of the castle.” Allura says, staring up at the ship with wide eyes. “They’re taking Voltron!”

“Shiro!” Keith shouts over the comm. “Shiro, answer me, please! Please, tell me you can hear me.”

There’s no response.

Keith’s chest tightens. _No_.

“Shiro!”

“Keith? Keith can you hear me?”

It’s not Shiro, but Keith will definitely count this as a good sign. “Katie,” he gasps. “Is that you? Where are you?”

“I’m inside the castle.” She says quietly. “Sendak has taken over and he’s preparing for launch. He’s got Lance and Shiro.”

“No,” Keith breathes.

He tunes out for a moment while Allura tells Pidge what to do. Sendak has Shiro. _Sendak has Shiro_.

The castle starts rumbling several moments later.

“I’ve lost connection.” Allura says, staring up at the castle. “They’re taking off.”

No, not again, he can’t lose Shiro again!

Suddenly, the rumbling stops, and Pidge is panting in their ears. “I, uh, improvised.” She says.

“Thank the gods.” Keith breathes, leaning against the particle barrier.

“Don’t worry, Keith. I won’t let them take Shiro from you again.” She says.

“Thank you.”

Allura tells Pidge how to find and disable the controls for the particle barrier, and then the Green Paladin falls silent. He can feel Allura looking at him, but he keeps his head pressed against the barrier.

“You’re worried about him.”

Keith growls. “Of course I am. He’s already suffered enough. I promised him I wouldn’t let anyone hurt him again, and now…” He swallows thickly.

“What is he to you, exactly?”

Keith sighs and turns to face her, gripping his wrist tightly. She seems surprised by the look on his face. He wonders just how much of the terror he’s feeling is showing.

“He’s my mate.”

Allura raises an eyebrow. “You are courting him?”

“Yeah.” Keith rasps and looks up at the castle again.

She hums quietly, but doesn’t have time to say anything before Pidge gets to the generator room. She apparently runs into trouble so Allura summons the mice, and they wait again. They hear Pidge’s exchanges and commentary and it makes Keith smile. She must have forgotten to turn her comm off.

They hear her deal with Haxus, and hear her yell at Sendak.

“You will turn yourself over to me immediately!” Sendak snarls, and Pidge returns with an immediate “never”. Keith is proud.

And then he hears Shiro’s voice.

“What do you want?” The Black Paladin rasps.

“Your friend wanted to hear from you.”

No. Oh god no.

“Shiro?” Pidge says, frantic.

“Pidge, Pidge don’t listen to h-”

Shiro screams.

“Nonononononono,” Keith whispers, a feeling like ice sliding through his veins.

The particle barrier flickers a few moments later, and it shuts down. Keith jerks forwards, ready to find Sendak and _tear_ _him apart_ when Allura calls out to him.

“What?” He snarls at her, and knows his eyes just flashed.

Her eyes widen briefly before she scowls at him. “We need a plan.”

“I have a plan. I’m going to rip Sendak to shreds.” He growls out.

“I was thinking about _after_ that.” She huffs. “Listen, here’s what I’m thinking…”

Allura explains her plan and she waits for Keith’s nod of acknowledgement before letting him tear through the castle towards the bridge. He skids to a halt when he sees Pidge in the commander’s grasp. Keith grits his teeth, knowing he can’t do shit while Sendak has a hold of her.

Suddenly Lance shoots Sendak in the back, and even Shiro tries to distract him, tied up as he is. And then Keith goes to town.

He jumps up on Sendak’s shoulders and throws his weight back, pulling hard, sending the giant Galra crashing to the ground. Keith rolls away and activates his bayard, hissing angrily.

Sendak’s eye widens and he scrambles to his feet. “You’re a hybrid. You’re Galra!”

“Yes, I am,” Keith growls, and feels his claws cut through his gloves. “And you are going to pay _dearly_ for hurting my mate.”

He swings at Sendak with his bayard, which is blocked by the commander’s prosthetic, but Keith had anticipated this. He pulls out his Marmora dagger and activates it, stabbing Sendak in the side, causing the Galra to roar in pain and surprise. He reels back and Keith lowers both his blades.

_“Marmora scum_.” Sendak snarls, and lifts his prosthetic again, but he’s so focused on Keith, he doesn’t see Pidge come up until she’s already slicing the metal limb off.

Sendak howls in anger and Keith hears Allura call to him, so he jumps up and kicks Sendak back, trapping him in the mini-barrier around the controls. The commander punches at the barrier but it’s useless, and they all know it. Keith deactivates his bayard and his dagger and turns, sprinting over to Shiro and throwing himself down in front of the older man, whining quietly.

“Shiro, Shiro are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay.” He begs.

Shiro gives him a weak smile. “I’m fine, baby. I’ve had worse.”

“That’s not helping.” Keith says weakly, using his dagger to cut Shiro’s restraints. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I already broke my promise.”

“Hey,” Shiro lifts a hand to cup Keith’s face gently. “Not your fault. And you saved me, didn’t you? It’s okay, I’m okay.”

Keith whimpers and buries his face in Shiro’s neck. “I’m sorry.” He rasps.

“It’s alright. We’re alright.” Shiro soothes, petting over Keith’s hair gently. “Hey, why don’t you go check on Lance? I wanna make sure Pidge is okay.”

Keith nods and stands, making sure the Blue Paladin is still breathing. He looks exhausted. “We did it.” He says as Keith helps him sit up. “We are a good team.”

Keith shrugs and smiles weakly. “We’re getting there.”

~*~

Hunk and Coran come back, and they shove Lance in a healing pod. Shiro talks to Pidge, and it looks like she’s decided to stay after all, which is good.

Keith doesn’t let go of Shiro during this time. At all.

“You need to get in a healing pod too.” He growls when his mate tries to walk out of the room. Shiro waves him off.

“I’m fine. Just some scrapes and bruises.”

Keith raises an eyebrow. “Do you really want me to pick you up and toss you in there? Because I swear to gods, Shirogane, I will.”

Shiro raises an eyebrow of his own, clearly amused. “Can you even pick me up?”

Keith sighs, and Pidge snickers. “You really shouldn’t have said that, Shiro.” She teases.

And then Keith steps forwards and hefts Shiro up into his arms.

“Keith!” Shiro squawks, wrapping his arms around Keith’s neck.

“Humans are weak as shit.” Keith deadpans. “Galra and Alteans can bench press ten of you.” Then he walks over to a healing pod.

“Keith!”

“I warned you, Takashi.”

Pidge won’t stop laughing.

While Shiro is in the healing pod (no, Keith had not been kidding) he and Pidge sit in the room together, waiting.

“I’m sorry.” She says quietly after a few minutes of nothing but the humming of the pods between them.

Keith sighs. “It’s okay. I understand. I felt the same way for the first several months after I landed on Earth. I was going to get back home, damn all the consequences. But I learned that I couldn’t just come charging back out here. I needed a plan. Patience yields focus.”

She smiles. “Shiro’s words stuck, huh?”

Keith shrugs. “They’re true. I needed to hear them, and so do you.” he tugs her into his side and presses his cheek to the top of her head, purring quietly. “We’re going to find both of our families, Katie. We just need to be patient.”

“I guess you’re right.” She sighs and nuzzles against his shoulder. “I mean, I have two of my three big brothers here with me now. I guess I can wait a little while to find the third.”

Keith blinks down at her, and then yanks her into a hard, full body hug, sending them crashing down to lie flat on the floor. His purring is starting to sound mildly like a chainsaw.

Pidge giggles and happily presses their foreheads together when Keith prompts. “Love you, Keith.”

“Love you too, Katie.” He murmurs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Pidge and Keith friendship. It is a good thing. The next chunk includes our favorite space bandits and Balmera adventures.  
> Also, regarding what I said last time, I was never intending to re-write whole chunks of STFY! It's not like I'd restructure the whole thing around what we know to be canon, all I want to do is add a few sentences here, maybe a paragraph there, just so it fits better with canon. I know some people don't want me to change things because they thought I was going to rewrite everything, so I hope that this makes it a little more clear!   
> Also I'm going to a Con this weekend where there is a panel with Josh Keaton and Kimberly Brooks, so I may be too exhausted from excitement to post on Sunday night, but I will endeavor to do so! Have a lovely week!


	4. The Paladins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! It is late and I am tired but I have a new chapter! The con was tons of fun and Josh and Kimberly are both total sweethearts and were amazing to everyone at the panel and at their tables. It was wonderful. But you all want to get to the chapter, so here!

Lance wakes the next day after the human time measurements versus literally-everyone-else time measurement competition. He’s not sure how seconds are better. They’re _shorter_. How is that better?

They all head out when Pidge stops them and admits to being a girl.

“I’ve known for some time. But I’m glad you shared it with everyone.” Allura says.

“Yeah, I figured.” Hunk adds, shrugging.

“Wait, we were supposed to think you were a boy?” Coran says, puzzled.

“About damn time.” Keith grumbles.

“Pidge, owning who you are is going to make you a better paladin.” Shiro tells her.

Lance is confused as fuck, and Keith is endlessly pleased.

“Whew, it’s good to get that off my chest. Now, let’s launch this castle-ship!” Pidge crows, jumping up on Keith’s shoulders so he can carry her up. He grunts, but catches her easily enough.

“You know, I’m usually the one who rides around on other people.” He says, amused.

“The castle is a ship and Pidge is a girl!? How long was I out?” Lance mutters behind them.

They get to the bridge, and Lance tries to make some ungodly screeching noise, but Shiro stops him.

“Thank fuck.” Keith mutters, slumping down in his chair. “Shiro I love you.”

Shiro turns and smiles at him, hand still clapped over Lance’s mouth. “I know, baby.”

“Gay!” Pidge calls, grinning at the pair of them.

“Oh shut it, Katie.” He huffs.

“Katie? You… you already knew she was a girl.” Hunk says slowly.

Keith nods. “I knew as soon as you guys walked into that Garrison tent. Even if she didn’t look exactly like her brother, I would have been able to tell because of her scent. I knew it was you two before I even turned around.”

“So you recognized them, but not me?” Lance says indignantly, pulling away from Shiro’s palm.

“I don’t know your scent by heart like I do theirs.” Keith says, scowling at the Blue Paladin. “Because, I met you like once, and I have never scented you.”

Lance opens his mouth to say something else but Shiro tells them both to quit. Keith growls a little and nuzzles into Shiro’s shoulder as his mate approaches.

“Ass.” He huffs.

“Keith,” Shiro warns, threading his fingers through Keith’s hair and tugging gently, “purple.”

Keith sighs.

But hey, they’re off to a Balmera. Keith is excited. He knows all about Balmeras, but he’s never actually seen one. He even speaks Balmeran, thanks to his dad, so he’s curious to actually meet the people.

But they are waylaid by a couple of stranded rebels.

Keith can tell they’re hiding something. He can hear the change in heartbeat when they lie about why their ship is busted, but they seem to be telling the truth about the shit they’ve done to piss off the empire. So Keith refrains from saying anything for the moment.

Hunk has no such compunctions, and as it turns out, the Yellow Paladin had been correct.

Lance, the idiot, had seen a pretty girl bat her eyes at him and he’d fallen into their trap. And now Keith and the others have to chase Rolo and Nyma down.

The ship disappears into an asteroid field and for a moment, no one knows quite what to do.

“Keith, you’re the only one who could possibly fly through this. We need you baby, go in there and flush them out.” Shiro says over the comm.

Keith smirks. “You got it. See you on the other side.” And he takes off through the asteroids.

Rolo is good, and he obviously knows where he’s going, but Keith has been flying between the gravitational pulls of black holes since he was twelve years old; an asteroid field is nothing compared to that. And in the Red Lion, the would-be thieves never stood a chance. He almost feels sorry for them.

Almost.

“Lance, I got your lion back.” He says as he and the others start towing the ship back to the moon where the castle waits.

“Thank you, Keith.” Lance sighs. “Now can you come and unchain me?”

Keith smirks. “What’s that? You’re cutting out I can’t hear you.”

“Oh, come on! I thought we bonded! Keith? Buddy? My man?” The Blue Paladin whines.

Keith snickers.

~*~

They arrive on the Balmera, and Keith’s heart clenches. The poor thing looks terrible. The empire has clearly given no regard to how the creature is feeling when they tear the crystals out of its body.

He, Lance and Hunk are tasked with taking out the mining equipment, and he’s ecstatic to discover the heat cannon. But even after they wreck everything, the sentries still don’t emerge from beneath the surface. They’re trying to draw them into a trap, but they don’t have much choice if they want to save the Balmerans. Shiro sends him and Lance to go take care of a hangar full of fighters while the others find the soldiers and the Balmerans.

Turns out the hanger is only guarded by a few sentries, so Keith starts down, activating his bayard, when Lance pulls him back.

“Whoa who whoa, cool your jets, Keith! If they see you they’re gonna shoot you. And hit the Balmera? Which is bad?”

Keith growls. “Fuck. Right. Okay, so what do we do?”

“We’ll sneak into the control room and shut the bay door. That’ll trap the ships in.”

“That… is actually a good idea. Yes. Let’s do that.”

They sneak in and land on the sentry guarding the control room. Keith starts towards the panel but Lance tugs him back before he can reach for it.

“I’ll figure out the panel, you watch for guards.” The Blue Paladin insists.

“Uh, Lance…” He starts.

“Hey, I can figure it out!” Lance says indignantly, shooing him away. “Go! Watch!”

Keith opens his mouth again but is shushed once more so he sighs and goes to lean against the wall, watching Lance poke at buttons and generally have no idea what he’s doing.

“I don’t know what I’m doing here. It’s all Galra gibberish.”

Keith sighs and walks back over. “Move.” He nudges Lance out of the way and presses his hand to the palm-scanner, and the bay doors slide shut.

“Whoa, how did you do that?” Lance says in awe.

“As I _tried_ to remind you, I’m Galra. _I can read the Galra language_.” He says slowly.

Lance pales. “Oh. Right.”

“Also, Galra tech is designed so only those with Galra DNA or tech can use it, so even if you’d been able to read it, you wouldn’t have been able to do anything.”

“Okay. Right. Sorry.”

Keith shrugs then slashes at the panel with his bayard. “It’s fine, let’s go.”

They leave the control room and Lance shoots the door controls so no one can get back inside, then they are summoned down to the core of the Balmera.

They encounter a bunch of sentries, and Lance makes vague hand gestures at him until he realizes Lance was pointing at the ladder behind him.

Lance distracts the sentries and Keith sneaks up and around them, slashing them all to pieces in a matter of moments.

They reach the core and find out it was a trap, not an ambush. They are sealed inside. Shay, Hunk’s friend – possibly more, judging by the besotted look on the Yellow Paladin’s face and the scent of infatuation clouding the air – says the Galra knew they were coming. Rolo and Nyma must have tipped them off. Dammit. And the castle is under heavy fire.

Shay says she can send for help.

“Vibrations. That’s how you guys communicate, right? You send vibrations through the Balmera to the other Balmerans.” Keith says.

Shay looks at him in surprise. “That is correct. But how would you know of how we communicate?”

“My father taught me a great many things about a great many species. The Balmera was one of them.” Keith says quietly.

Shay smiles, and proceeds to try and contact her family.

They show up soon enough and free them from the core, and they all rush to their lions before the Galra can snatch them away. They form Voltron and blast through the fighters, but then a new robotic monstrosity shows up, armed with about fifty eyes that can all shoot devastating lasers.

Keith is not happy.

They break up and hunker down in the Balmera tunnels and try to figure out what the void to do. But the Balmera is dying, collapsing under their very feet. The poor thing doesn’t have more than a few vargas at most, and there are so many people that live here.

Allura heads down to the Balmera and tries to convince them all to escape while the paladins try to distract the laser monster robot thing. The Balmerans do try to evacuate, but are trapped when the creature destroys the ladders. But then apparently Allura is capable of restoring the Balmera due to her natural magic and the castle’s energy.

But, turns out she might die in the attempt. No matter how much Keith dislikes her, he doesn’t want her to _die,_ dammit.

They continue to fight the monster even as the Balmera begins to glow underneath the castle, around Allura and a ring of Shay’s family. They re-form Voltron, and Hunk is able to use his bayard to summon a shoulder canon that they use to fight the monster. Which is awesome. The blast doesn’t defeat it, but it definitely keeps the damn thing distracted, and even disables some of the fucking laser eyes. Allura does manage to fix the Balmera, as the entire thing starts glowing underneath them. They push the monster back, finally putting it down, and then go check on the princess, who didn’t die.

Turns out the monster didn’t die either, but as thanks for saving it, the Balmera encases the monster in crystal, rendering it harmless. Keith supposes that works.

~*~

That night, Keith crawls into bed and buries his face in Shiro’s chest, groaning tiredly.

“Today was so damn long. I can’t even remember starting it. Can I sleep for a week? Please?”

Shiro hums and combs through Keith’s hair gently, causing him to purr in contentment.

“I wish, but we are the defenders of the universe. We don’t really get time off.”

“Allura needs time to recover. We have a few days. And I intend to spend at least one of them in this bed with you. preferably without clothes.”

Shiro hums again and kisses the top of his head. “I think that can be arranged, but not tonight.”

“No. Tonight we sleep. Fuck me in the morning.” Keith murmurs.

When Shiro speaks again, he is already half asleep but he can hear the smile in his mate’s voice. “Will do, baby.”

~*~

Keith sleeps, but not easily. His dreams are plagued by laser fire and burning. He sees the base – his home – tilting off its axis and being sucked into one of the black holes. He sees Antok fighting and dying at the hands of one of the witch’s robotic monsters, too strong even for him. He sees Kolivan, broken and bloodied, clinging to a doorframe as a firing squad lines up to shoot him down. He sees his Papa spitting blood and keep fighting and fighting until his body is too covered in injuries to move and he collapses in a pool of his own blood. He sees his dad being electrocuted by the druids, demanding to know where they’d sent _him_ , and his dad spits at their feet and swears he’ll never tell, and he’s burned again until he’s smoking, eyes glazed over and unseeing.

Keith opens his eyes.

Shiro is leaning over him, eyes wide and hands gripping his shoulders.

“Keith! Keith, baby, are you awake? Are you with me?”

“Takashi…” Keith whispers, choking on a sob. God, it had been just a dream, but it had felt so _real_. For all he knows, it _was_ real. That could have all happened, and he would have _no idea_.

He sobs openly, leaning up and burying his face in Shiro’s chest, fingers tightening into the older man’s sleep shirt. His claws are ripping the fabric, and Keith can feel his ears press flat against the sides of his head.

“Shh, it’s okay, baby, it was just a dream, you’re okay, we’re okay.” Shiro murmurs, pulling Keith into his lap and stroking his back.

“They could b-be _dead!”_ Keith wails, clinging to Shiro more tightly. “They could have died _years_ ago and I, I would have, n-no idea!”

“Oh Keith,” Shiro whispers, kissing the top of his head. “I wish there was some sort of answer I could give you, anything to make you less scared, but I don’t, and I’m _sorry_. All I can say is that, you told me they’re the best at what they do. They know you’re alone out here, and they will have done everything possible to make sure they could see you again.”

Keith nods rapidly against Shiro’s collarbone. That’s all true, but it’s still possible it wasn’t enough. Gods, he hopes it was enough.

Shiro holds him for a long time, murmuring gentle assurances into his ear as he slowly calms himself.

“I’m okay.” He whispers eventually.

“No you’re not.” Shiro says, “But you will be when you see them again. And you _will_ see them again, Keith, I swear.”

Keith nods and nuzzles against Shiro’s shoulder, nipping at the warm skin. “Love you.” He murmurs.

“I love you too. So much. And tomorrow I’m going to spend the whole day right here with you, in this bed, just like you wanted. That way, you know at least _one_ of your pack is safe, right?”

“Right.” Keith says, smiling a little. “Thank you, Takashi.”

“Anything for you, baby.” Shiro murmurs. He shifts them down so they’re laying on the bed again and tugs up the sheets. Once Shiro’s got them settled, he wraps his arms around Keith’s waist and squeezes him firmly. “Sleep, Keith. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

“Always?” Keith asks, eyes already slipping shut.

“Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith don't worry you find them. Eventually. And with some unpleasant connotations surrounding said reunions (Shiro's Escape, anyone?). So sorry if there are tons of mistakes but I was editing with tired eyes. I'll do better Wednesday with Crystal Venom (oh boy!). Have a good week in the meantime!


	5. The Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I was AWOL yesterday! I got sick and spent the whole day curled up in bed. But here! Have a chapter!

The next few days are indeed spent waiting for Allura to recover from the massive energy drain of healing the Balmera, and Keith does indeed spend the first of those days with Shiro in bed, just like his mate had promised.

Shiro kisses him, slow and sweet as he presses inside, and Keith sighs into it, purring quietly and wrapping his arms tighter around the Black Paladin’s shoulders, claws scraping lightly against skin.

“Okay?” Shiro murmurs, pressing their foreheads together.

“You always ask, and I always say yes,” Keith says fondly, rolling his hips up against Shiro’s to prove just how _okay_ he really is. Shiro’s breath hitches.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” His mate says, kissing his forehead.

“You won’t.” Keith sighs, letting his head fall back against the pillow.

“It’s been over a year.”

“Then I guess we have some catching up to do.” Keith muses, grinning up at Shiro and scraping his claws a little harder down the man’s back. Not hard enough to draw blood, just enough to sting. Shiro’s eyes darken and he snaps his hips forwards, punching all the air out of Keith’s lungs.

“Like that?” He hums, leaning down to nip at Keith’s throat.

“Oh yes,” Keith sighs, tilting his head to give Shiro a better angle. “Just like that.”

~*~

They spend the rest of the day in a similar fashion, only emerging in the evening for dinner.

Keith neglects to wear anything on his torso except for the vest he stole from Shiro, proudly showing off all the marks on his neck while Shiro blushes beside him.

Hunk dutifully says nothing as he sets the food down on the table, but the others? They all decide they need to comment.

“Well I can guess what you two have been up to.” Pidge teases, and Keith preens, purring happily.

“Ugh, gross! I do not need images of you two doing the frick-frack right down the hall from me!” Lance whines and Keith frowns.

“Frick-?” Pidge covers his mouth.

“Sex. He means sex.” She says helpfully and Shiro groans, burying his face in his hands.

Keith nods. “Right, humans have the strangest ways of saying the simplest things.”

“Well I for one think it’s wonderful!” Coran says cheerfully. “You’re young and in love, and therefore _should_ be having a healthy sex life! Good for you, paladins! I’m glad I was able to provide you that personal lubricant, Keith!”

Keith purrs again and Shiro makes a muffled noise of pain and anguish. Keith pats his back consolingly.

Allura sighs and glares at Keith. “Must you walk around half-naked? It’s shameful.”

Keith quirks an eyebrow and looks down at his very fully clothed form. Then shrugs.

“Galra are possessive. We like showing off our marks and making it known what’s ours.”

“Oh god please don’t tell me the Galra have an ‘I licked it so it’s mine’ rule.” Hunk says quietly. Keith raises an eyebrow, then leans over and licks Shiro’s cheek.

“Keith no.” Shiro says weakly, still not removing his hands from his face.

He turns to eye Pidge playfully, but she holds up a hand. “Don’t you fucking dare, Kogane.”

Keith grins and licks her outstretched palm.

“Ew, gross!” She whines, wiping her hand on her napkin. “I have no idea where that tongue has been recently!” She eyes Shiro questioningly and Shiro makes another choking sound. Keith laughs.

“I just said I don’t need those images!” Lance wails and Shiro finally speaks up.

“Can the topic please change to something that is not mine and Keith’s sex life? Please?”

Keith chirps happily and nuzzles Shiro’s shoulder. “Sorry, Takashi.”

“No you’re not.” Shiro sighs but finally uncovers his face so he can actually eat dinner.

Allura is scowling at Keith in disgust, but he ignores her. She still seems to dislike him but he’s not going to give a shit. Actions speak louder than words, apparently that is a common sentiment shared between the humans and the Galra. Keith will _show_ the princess that he’s on her side. No matter how long that takes.

~*~

Two days after that, they decide it might be a good idea to try and “interrogate” Sendak. It goes about as well as Keith expects it too. A varga of waiting around staring at the pod holding the crazy commander has Keith stretching and declaring,

“Well, I can’t wait around anymore. I’m going to hit the training deck.” He walks over to Shiro and kisses his cheek gently. “Don’t stand here staring at him all day, okay?”

Shiro doesn’t look away from the pod, humming in response.

“Takashi.” Keith says warningly.

“I won’t, I won’t.” the Black Paladin says absently. Keith growls quietly in warning, but then heads for the training deck.

He makes it through the first two levels without even thinking, too concerned about the hollow look on Shiro’s face. He seemed to know Sendak. That was probably a bad sign. Keith knew the commander’s reputation, and the idea that someone so merciless had come near his mate…

It made his blood boil just thinking about it.

He was so lost in thought that he was knocked on his ass by a level three robot. He groans in frustration. Knocked down by a level three. How embarrassing. He sighs and pushes himself to his feet.

“End training sequence.” He says, figuring he won’t feel better until he goes to check on Shiro again. How long has he been here anyway?

But… the robot doesn’t disappear. It runs at him again. “End training sequence.” He says again, and again, louder, when it rushes him, swinging at his head and knocking his bayard away from him. He ducks under its next swing and grabs his bayard, sprinting towards the door and slamming it closed behind him. He leans against the wall, panting heavily, when the robot wedges its weapon between the doors, trying to wrench them open. Keith growls under his breath and runs, hearing the thing chasing after him. What the fuck is happening?? Did Allura rig it so it would hunt him down??

It pursues him through the halls, swinging at him every time it gets close enough. One of those times it throws him up against a wall, and when he stands he hears a muffled “Keith!”

He turns his head to see Lance banging on the door of an airlock.

“What are you doing in there?” Keith snaps, but Lance makes a startled noise and points to the robot, giving Keith enough time to duck out of the way of its latest swing.

“I need help! Because if you don’t get me out of here right now, I’m going to be sucked out into space!”

As he blocks another swing he hears a robotic voice saying “doors opening” followed by Lance shouting “I’m getting sucked out into space!”

He spots the airlock controls and manages to push the robot back far enough to hit the button with his bayard, and the robot goes flying out into the void. Keith pulls Lance in and shuts the door, both of them collapsing to the floor, panting harshly.

“What were you doing out there?” Keith snaps when he gets his breath back.

“Who was that guy?” Lance counters.

“He was trying to kill me!”

Lance frowns. “Well is he the castle, because that’s who’s trying to kill me!”

Well, technically yes. So it wasn’t Allura, it was the castle itself. Oh shit, the Galra crystal. He and Lance look at each other, and scramble to their feet, sprinting through the halls to locate the others.

They find Coran on the bridge, then go to get Hunk and Pidge from the Green Lion’s hangar. Turns out they’ve been subject to castle fuckery as well. They establish that yes, it is indeed the corruption from the crystal.

“Well let’s get rid of it!” Hunk says, glaring at the purple rock in the corner.

“It’s too late. When Sendak plugged it into the ship, it corrupted the entire system.” Coran explains.

“Sendak…” Keith murmurs, then his eyes widen, remembering why he’d tried to leave the training deck earlier. “Wait, has anyone seen Shiro?” they all shake their heads.

Keith’s breath hitches, then he turns and runs towards the room where Sendak has been stored.

He skids into the room and sees Shiro curled up on the floor, Sendak’s pod empty. There’s a crack in the glass, from the outside, as though Shiro had punched it.

Keith chirps in alarm and falls to his knees, gripping Shiro’s arms tightly. “Takashi? Are you alright? Where’s Sendak?”

“I, I had to get him out of here.” Shiro says shakily, staring up at Keith with wide, frantic eyes. Keith hears the others come up behind him, but he keeps his focus trained on his agitated mate. “I could hear his voice, he can’t be trusted on this ship.” Shiro says, reaching out and gripping Keith’s arms.

“It _is_ the ship!” Lance says. “I got stuck in a cryo pod then an airlock, Keith got attacked by a robot, and Pidge and Hunk got attacked by food! It’s been a weird morning.”

“Whatever you heard wasn’t real.” Keith soothes, tilting his head so he can press his forehead to Shiro’s.

Then the ship informs them Allura has initiated a wormhole jump. Turns out, her father’s AI was corrupted as well and has now convinced Allura that a star that’s about to go supernova is actually Altea. He’s trying to get them all killed. Great.

She sends them out to slow the ship… while she goes to destroy all that’s left of her father. That, that must hurt.

She calls them back in a few moments later, and they escape the system with mere ticks to spare.

When they all reenter the bride, Allura is sitting on the dais by the controls, Coran kneeling next to her. Shiro sits on her other side with a hand on her shoulder and the rest of the paladins stand around in a semi-circle.

“I’m so sorry about your father, princess.” Shiro says quietly.

“We all are.” Hunk adds.

“Thank you,” She says, smiling weakly, “but that was not my father.” She stands. “The real King Alfor was a great man, and a great father. He may not be here anymore, but his dream lives on through all of us. And his legacy is Voltron.” She shakes her head slowly, then turns to face them. “I am sorry about all the trouble you went through today. Please, take the rest of it to relax and recover from this.”

She turns and disappears down the hall, but not before Keith can catch the scent of saline.

~*~

That night, Keith can’t sleep. Allura hadn’t been at dinner, and Coran said she had locked herself in her room. Keith groans and heaves himself out of bed, tugging on his pajama pants and Shiro’s sleep shirt, being careful not to wake his mate, before wandering out into the halls. He walks around for a long time before making his way to the bridge, where he sees light peeking out from under the door. He taps the controls and the doors slide open soundlessly. Allura is curled up on the dais, looking up at a hologram of Altea. Keith doesn’t have to see her face to know she’s been crying. The smell of salt is thick in the room.

“Princess.” He says quietly, and she jumps, turning to look at him and wiping her eyes hastily.

“What are you doing here?” She tries to sound stern, but she’s too worn out for it.

Keith sighs and walks towards her, dropping down beside her on the dais, careful not to get too close. “I’m sorry about what happened to your father. I know it wasn’t really him,” he adds when she opens her mouth, “but it was all you had left of him. I can understand how hard it must have been, destroying the last piece of him you had left, so I’m sorry.” He looks out at the stars.

_“May the lights of the Ancients guide him home.”_ He murmurs in Altean, and Allura gasps.

“You know the Altean prayer for the dead?” She whispers.

Keith shrugs. “I know a lot about Altea. My dad taught me a great deal about it, and the other lost planets of your system.” He looks over at her. “He told me that you were the first to fall victim to the empire, and we should always honor that loss, for it was a great one. King Alfor’s death was a great tragedy.” He looks up at the hologram of Altea and smiles. “He used to tell me stories about the paladins of old. Alfor and the Red Lion were always my favorite. I used to dream of piloting the Red Lion, walking in King Alfor’s footsteps and finishing what he started.” He looks back over at her and smiles gently. “There were stories about you too. I always liked those. You were probably my favorite person to hear about. The nineteen-year-old princess of Altea, who was as fierce as she was smart. Willing to fight to the death for the sake of her people. I always thought you and I were very much alike.”

“Yes.” She says quietly. “I suppose we are.”

Keith shrugs a shoulder. “I get why you don’t want to let the others know you’re shaken. You need to be the strong one. None of them know what this war really means, not yet. Shiro does, but even he hasn’t seen all of what we have seen. You and me? We know. We know what this war really is. We know the stakes. We know we can’t afford to feel the losses. Because the losses are just going to get worse.”

“It feels terrible, trying not to care.” She murmurs. “Because I do. Greatly, but I cannot afford to let each loss break me, or I would never be whole again.”

Keith nods. “Exactly.”

They sit there in silence for a moment before he adds “But… this kind of loss, the one that’s so deeply personal… I think it would break you more if you tried to ignore it. My fathers always said that it was never good to hold things in, lest they tear you apart at the worst possible time. So if you need to mourn your father, then for gods’ sake, mourn. Cry, scream, break things. Allow yourself to grieve, so you can move on to making sure it will never happen again.”

He turns to look her in the eyes. “Don’t let yourself become numb, princess. That won’t help anyone. Especially you.”

Allura stares at him for a long moment, and then tears brim in her eyes and she lets out a muffled sob. She curls in on herself, and lets herself shake.

Keith leans against her side carefully and starts purring quietly. They stay like that for a long time.

Eventually she uncurls enough so she can wipe her eyes, hiccupping quietly.

“Thank you, Keith.” She says raggedly. “I think I really needed to hear what you said.”

“You needed someone to tell you it was okay.” He says, nodding. “Trust me, I get it.”

She sighs shakily, then turns and hugs him. He chirps in surprise, but carefully presses his hands to her back.

“I’m sorry.” She whispers. “I’m so sorry for the way I’ve treated you.”

Keith purrs again and presses his cheek against the top of her head. “It’s alright. You needed time.”

“I will try to remember that not all Galra are like Zarkon and Sendak.” She says solemnly. “And… I look forwards to meeting with the Blade of Marmora, if only so I can tell your fathers how proud they should be of their son.”

Keith hums and ducks down to scent her gently. She smells like spring, and strength, and far off stars. She smells like family. Finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay Allura getting over her racism a whole season earlier! It makes things go alot smoother later on, let me tell you. I will actually post on time on Sunday, so see you then for the final chapter of Part 3!


	6. The Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends and welcome to the end of Part 3. Enjoy!

He and Allura accidentally fall asleep on the dais, and are found the next morning by Shiro, who still, after all this time, wakes up at an ungodly hour.

He jolts awake when his mate touches his shoulder, tightening his arm around the body pressed against his side.

“Shiro?” He says, yawning.

Shiro smiles at him gently. “You and Allura have a slumber party?”

Keith blinks and looks down. Allura’s head is pillowed on his stomach, his arm draped over her back.

“Whoops.” He says, looking up at Shiro. “We totally didn’t mean to fall asleep up here, I swear.”

Shiro chuckles quietly. “Did you two work everything out?”

Keith purrs happily. “Yeah. Yeah we did.”

~*~

It is beyond nice to know Allura doesn’t hate him anymore. The two of them are actually scarily in sync now. Keith kind of loves it.

The rest of the day, Keith follows Allura around, scenting her randomly. She rolls her eyes, but always tilts her head and brushes her hair away, so he figures she’s cool with it. Lance keeps glaring at him, but obviously he still hasn’t figured out that scenting is a completely platonic thing. He scents Pidge and Hunk all the damn time. To be fair, he’s never actually scented Lance, but then again, he doesn’t want to.

“What do we smell like to you, Keith? Like, do we all have special scents aside from our emotions?” Hunk asks at dinner.

Keith hums and steeples his fingers. “Well, yes and no. It’s not like ‘ _oh Pidge smells like cookies and Shiro smells like pine trees’_ or anything. It’s way more abstract than that. Like, to me, Shiro’s scent is all… warmth, and safety and feeling like I’m taken care of. Pidge – and Matt – smell like a cared for home, and family and happiness. Pidge also smells like manic energy. You… you smell soft, and careful, and steady. Allura smells like spring and strength and the light of stars. Coran smells of carefully crafted poise and erratic rhythm.” He shrugs. “It may not make sense to you guys, but that’s just how I process it.”

They’re all staring at him, and he feels awkward. He glances over at Shiro. “Did I say something wrong again?” he whispers.

Shiro laughs quietly and tangles his fingers in Keith’s hair. “No, Keith. I think you said exactly what you should have said.”

“Oh man, I feel like I’m gonna cry? And I don’t know why?” Hunk says, sniffing quietly. Pidge is smiling, bumping her shoulder against Keith’s. Coran is beaming. Even Allura looks happier than she had a few moments ago.

Huh.

~*~

They decode the information they extracted from Sendak, and find a secret base. Obviously, they have to go check it out, and Allura decides she’s coming with them. They break in and knock everyone out, and find that there really isn’t much in the computers.

“You’re sure the Blade didn’t have anything on this place?” Pidge asks him as she skims through files. Keith shrugs a shoulder and looks down at the docking bay below.

“No, or if they did, I never heard about it. It’s not like they told me everything. I was only a full-fledged Blade for a month before I was sent away, and even then, they didn’t want me knowing too much. I know it was to protect me, but it’s really annoying now.”

The screen Pidge is looking at suddenly flares to life as a ship docks, the captain obviously expecting someone to answer and give him the go ahead. Everyone looks around frantically, trying to figure out how to get him to go away. Keith sighs and takes off his helmet, shifting as he reaches for the closest guard and tugs the Galra helmet on. He stands and salutes, careful to show nothing below his head.

“Vrepit sa.” He says.

 The soldier on screen startles before saluting and repeating the phrase.

“You are clear to dock. Proceed.” Keith says. The soldier nods, and the screen winks out.

“Nice job, Keith!” Hunk cheers. “Hybrid biology for the win.”

Keith shrugs and shifts back, replacing his own helmet. “Not the first time I’ve had to fool Galra, won’t be the last.”

“Now that sounds like a story I want to hear.” Lance says, but Allura cuts him off.

“We have no time now. Pidge, what do we have?”

But apparently there’s no useful information, so Allura decides she needs to go in the battle cruiser. She shifts herself, causing everyone to jump back.

“Wait, wait, are… are you half-Galra too?” Hunk asks.

She chuckles. “Ah, no. The Alteans are a chameleon-like people who are able to blend in with the local populations. It’s the ability that’s made us great explorers and diplomats throughout our history.” She looks at Keith. “Your ability to shift is remarkably similar. It surprised me when I first met you.”

Keith nods. “Papa and my mom have Altean blood, somewhere back in their family tree. Dad figured that was why I can so easily shift between Galra and human, and not look like a mix of both like most Galra hybrids.” He blinks for a moment, then frowns. “Well, that’s his _best_ theory.”

Allura smiles. “Perhaps you should accompany me onto the ship, Keith. I’ll need someone with Galra DNA to work the computer anyway.”

Keith sighs. “As much as I would like to, it’s not the best idea. Galra see me and tend to think I’m a child.” Lance snorts, and Keith glares at him. “I am approximately the size of a Galra twelve-year-old. I’d stick out if I went in with you.”

“I’ll go.” Shiro says, stepping forwards. Keith glares at him.

“Never mind, I’ll do it, you keep your ass right here, Shirogane.”

Shiro sighs. “No, I’ll go, they might need you here.”

“Remember what I was saying about sticking out? Yeah, same issue with you, if not more so.”

But Shiro is stubborn, just as much as Keith is, and soon enough he’s watching Allura wheel a crate containing his mate into the Galra battle cruiser. He hasn’t stopped growling since they left the room.

Then Keith sees the containers, and growls.

“Keith?” Pidge asks.

“Those containers. They’re full of quintessence.”

“You lost us.” Lance says.

Keith grits his teeth. “Quintessence is life energy. It keeps everything in the universe alive. You, me, entire planets, we all have quintessence inside us. Humans call it spirit, I think. But it’s ridiculously powerful, and that? That’s enough to have come from several hundred people.”

Then he sees the druid.

“Not good.” He hisses.

“What, the scary masked dude?” Hunk asks.

“That’s a druid, Witch Haggar’s soldiers. Magic users with a penchant for scary purple lightning.” He grits his teeth. “They’re the ones who gave Shiro his arm.”

“Who’s Witch Haggar?” Pidge asks.

“Zarkon’s advisor. She’s a nasty piece of work, loves experimenting on people, fiercely loyal to Zarkon. And she has a weird fascination with quintessence.” He stands. “I’m going to check this out. You three stay here.”

“Keith,” Lance starts to protest, but Keith cuts him off.

“I am the only one who stands a chance against these guys. They are bad news, but thankfully, I know how to fight them. And I need to see what they’re doing with that quintessence. If the Empire has found a way to harvest it faster, we could all be in trouble. Now, stay here, bar the door, and don’t open it for _anyone_ but me, are we clear?”

The others stare at him with big eyes and nod meekly.

“Good.”

He _will_ keep his pack safe, dammit.

Turns out there’s a massive quintessence supply here. He shows Coran, who is equally freaked out. He watches the druid turn the quintessence into fuel, and tries to steal some. Maybe they can figure out where all this quintessence is coming from.

But the druid catches him, and they fight. He holds his own pretty well, all things considered, and the druid is clearly frustrated with that, which makes it sloppy. He still manages to get one good hit in, and Keith gets burned bad enough that it actually burns through his human skin to expose his Galra fur, but the quintessence that spills on him during his escape heals him, thankfully.

He also managed to _kill_ the druid (he thinks), so, go him.

They have a very panicky moment, thinking Allura and Shiro aren’t going to make it off the ship before it leaves, but then they see an escape pod. Which contains Shiro. Just Shiro.

Allura is still trapped on the Galra ship.

~*~

They get back to the castle and Shiro looks like he’s on a fucking warpath. He’s determined to get Allura back, even if it means risking handing Voltron over to Zarkon on a silver fucking platter. Keith points this out. It does not go well.

“Think about it. We’ll be delivering the universe’s only hope to the universe’s biggest enemy, who will then proceed to _use it_.” He says after a long period of everyone staring at him.

“You just don’t want to go after her because the two of you don’t get along!” Lance accuses.

Keith sighs. “In case you’ve forgotten, we do get along now. And let me remind you, if Allura were here, _she would be agreeing with me_.”

There is literally nothing they can say to that. They know he’s right.

“We still have to try, Keith.” Shiro says quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder gently. “It’s what we do. We save people, even against impossible odds. Especially when they’re our friends.”

Keith huffs. “Fine, we’ll do it your way, but don’t say I didn’t warn you when bad shit happens and Zarkon ends up killing all of us and taking the Black Lion.”

Shiro smiles, albeit with a hint of confusion.  Why is that confusing? “I wouldn’t dream of it, baby.” He kisses Keith’s forehead and then they get to work.

“Keith? Do you have any idea where Zarkon’s central command is? I could use the help.” Pidge asks.

He manages to point her to the right quadrant of space and they’re off. Coran isn’t talking to them – he’s still pissed at Shiro – but he gets them there in one piece. Oh god. The flagship. Keith never thought he’d ever see it. His dads would probably all have panic attacks if they knew he was here.

They never even _spoke_ about it in his presence. All they would ever say was that it’s heavily fortified and heavily dangerous and _don’t you even think about thinking about going near it kit or I swear to gods._ Well, good thing they don’t know he’s looking at it. And getting ready to storm it. At least it wasn’t his idea. The plan is to slash, grab, and get out, but of course that works out just as well as any of their other plans.

As soon as they get close to the main ship, a barrier encloses the entire area. Because of course it does. Keith fucking _told_ them this was a bad idea. Then a fuckton of battle cruisers which they cut through easily enough, and then Voltron freezes, the sword vanishing.

“Shiro?” Keith calls.

“I can’t hold it!” Shiro grits out, and Voltron is torn apart back into lions. Fucking _Zarkon_. Keith knew coming here was the worst fucking plan imaginable. Didn’t they know what a bad idea it was bringing the Black Lion so close to her original paladin?? Clearly not, which makes him frown. Why the hell hadn’t Allura or Coran told anyone!? Especially Shiro! They might not be here if they had!

As soon as they’re separate, fighters fly out of the outer rings, and they have to fight them all off, while Shiro is immobile, fighting for control of the Black Lion.

“Why do I get the feeling they knew we were coming?” Keith says, voice dripping with sarcasm as he blasts his way through a line of ships.

“Shiro, how are you doing?” he asks, turning back to look at the prone lion.

“Something is… overriding the controls. My lion is not responding… agh!”

Well, no duh. That’s when Keith notices the tractor beam around the lion, and grits his teeth.

“Shiro’s in trouble. I’m going in.”

He sees Shiro get ejected from the Black Lion and growls. “Told you this was a terrible idea.” He hears Shiro’s order to go get the princess. Yeah, right.

“You guys go get the princess without me.”

“What? We need to stick together! What are you doing?” Lance squawks.

“Whatever I can.” He says, and then rams into the Black Lion, pushing it out of the tractor beam. He flies towards it when he sees a figure jet down, landing in front of the lion and looking up at him. Is that… oh, void.

“It’s Zarkon!” Coran confirms over comms. “Keith, you have to get out of there! Zarkon’s too powerful!” Yeah, see, he already knows that. Very well in fact, but…

“This is my chance to put an end to the Galra Empire. I have to take it!” If his fathers knew he was about to take on Zarkon single-handed, they would literally kill him. Well, he supposes what they don’t know won’t hurt them.

As expected, fighting Zarkon is a whole world of Not Fun. The emperor has had ten thousand years to master his bayard, and Keith, while having grown up on stories of the lions, has really only been a paladin for a little over a month. So it really doesn’t go well for him. At all. But gods does he try. He even manages to unlock the back cannon on Red, which is pretty neat, even if Zarkon dodges it. He destroys half the outer ring of the base though, so that’s something.

“You fight like a Galra soldier.” The emperor says contemplatively. Well, _duh_. “But not for long!”

He gets smashed into the ship and Red is very much not okay. He thinks he’s done for, but then the Black Lion comes out of nowhere and shoots Zarkon, scooping Red up in her mouth.

“I’ve got you.” Shiro says breathlessly over the comm.

Keith laughs weakly and leans back in his seat. “Yeah you do. Thanks, Shiro.”

They get back to the castle, but the barrier is still up, and preventing them from using the teludav. Dammit. _Dammit_.

Suddenly, as though by divine intervention, the barrier drops, and they are allowed to escape. Keith wonders over that. Did the barrier fail? Or did someone lower it on purpose?

_Is there a Blade hidden right under Zarkon’s nose?_

He doesn’t have much time to contemplate it, because suddenly, he and Shiro are being battered around in the Black Lion’s hangar.

“Coran, what’s happening?” Shiro barks.

“The integrity of the wormhole has been compromised! It’s breaking down!”

“What does that mean!?” Lance shouts.

“It means we have no control over where we’re headed!”

Then he and Shiro are being torn out of the castle, and pass through the edge of the wormhole, to who knows where.

 

END PART 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's three parts down! The next part is what everyone has been waiting for: Season 2, and reunions with dads! But how long do these reunions stay happy ones? You're gonna have to wait a month (roughly) to find out! I wish you all the best, and hope to see you again in Part 4!  
> (And godspeed to all of us watching S7. If we thought S6 killed us, apparently we haven't seen anything yet)
> 
> Also! I have made a new tumblr specifically to talk about my mad Sheith writing, so if anyone's interested in asking questions about TLABL or any of my other Sheith things, or just want to say hi, you can find me at [sheith-writes](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sheith-writes)!


End file.
